Миранда Джеймс - Digging Up The Dirt

And waited. She glared at the door. She rang the bell, longer and more insistently this time. Where was Hadley’s housekeeper?

She was about to ring the bell again when the door opened to reveal Hadley, looking more than a bit harried and disheveled.

“Thank the Lord you’re here, An’gel.” Hadley drew her in and bestowed a kiss on her cheek. “They’re driving me crazy. Maybe you can help me get them out of the house.”

“What on earth is going on?” An’gel asked as she followed her host down the hall. “Why are they all here?”

“They just showed up.” Hadley spoke over his shoulder. “When I was growing up, people always called before they appeared on your doorstep. Apparently that’s too old-fashioned for this group.”

Why had they all come? An’gel wondered.

“At least they brought news from the hospital,” Hadley said. “Arliss is still in a coma but she’s stable. Some small progress.” He opened the door to his late father’s library and motioned for An’gel to precede him.

Four faces regarded her as she approached the center of the room. “Goodness,” she said. “I had no idea you’d all be here when I made an appointment earlier in the day to call on Hadley this afternoon.” She hoped they noticed the slight stress she laid on the word appointment .

“We simply invited ourselves.” Lottie giggled. “We were sure Hadley wouldn’t mind. We’ve all been dying to see the inside of Ashton Hall since he came back.”

“I thought you said you visited Hamish frequently in his last months.” An’gel found an empty chair near Lottie. “Surely you already knew what it looked like here.”

Lottie sniffed. “Hamish had let things go pretty badly. I was sure Hadley would have everything cleaned up. I tried to get Hamish to let me find him another housekeeper, but he insisted that nasty Mrs. Turnipseed was just fine.”

“I was about to go to the kitchen for drinks for everyone,” Hadley said. “An’gel, what would you like?”

“Whatever everyone else is having is fine with me,” An’gel said. She wondered why the housekeeper wasn’t taking care of the drink situation.

Almost as if he had read her mind, Hadley said in an apologetic tone, “The beverage of choice seems to be coffee, and I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with my attempts at using the coffeemaker. My housekeeper has come down with some kind of bug, and so I’m looking after myself temporarily.”

“I’d be delighted to help,” Barbie said crossly. “I told you I’m very good at making coffee.”

“I appreciate your offer,” Hadley said. “But I’ll manage. I’m not going to put my guests to work. My mother would be spinning in her grave at the very thought.” He flashed a brief smile. “I’ll be back soon.” He headed out the door.

An’gel wished she could go after him and try to get a few private words in the kitchen, but she knew that wouldn’t fly. Instead she glanced around at her fellow guests. Reba appeared to be disgruntled over something, and An’gel suspected it was because she wasn’t the center of Hadley’s attention. Martin had his eyes fixated on his cell phone. Barbie also wasn’t happy, but Lottie seemed to be in her own little world, as she often was.

“Hadley mentioned that there was good news about Arliss,” An’gel said to break the silence. “Did one of you go by the hospital?”

“I did,” Lottie said. “The sister and her husband were there, and I talked to them for a few minutes. I really would have loved to see Arliss, but they wouldn’t let me.” Lottie sighed. “She must feel terribly alone in that hospital room.”

“She’s in a coma,” Reba said. “Has no idea where she is.”

Lottie gazed at Reba for a moment. “You’re right. I guess I forgot about that.” Her gaze moved on from Reba and seemed to focus on the shelves above Reba’s head.

An’gel wondered sometimes whether Lottie’s occasional scatterbrained episodes were real or feigned. She suspected the latter. Lottie had an odd sense of humor, and An’gel wouldn’t put it past her to behave like a ditz simply for the amusement value it afforded her.

“What brought you and Martin here?” An’gel asked Reba. “Were you dying to see the inside of Ashton Hall also?”

Reba cast a withering glance in Lottie’s direction. “I know perfectly well what the inside of this house looks like. I visited Hamish regularly over the years, much more often than anyone else.”

“I suppose you knew his housekeeper then?” An’gel asked.

“Of course. I’ve known Thomasina Turnipseed for years,” Reba said.

Martin giggled suddenly. “Thomasina Turnipseed. Thomasina Turnipseed. What a name.” He went back to staring at his phone.

Reba appeared not to notice her son’s interruption. “Thomasina took excellent care of Hamish over the years. Why are you asking about her, An’gel? Don’t you know her?”

“Not really,” An’gel said. “Years ago Hamish rebuffed our attempts to visit him, and finally Dickce and I stopped trying. I hadn’t seen Mrs. Turnipseed in over thirty years, I suppose, until the other day.”

An’gel felt a sudden tension in the room, and she glanced quickly at each face in turn. She could read nothing in anyone’s expression, however.

“You saw Thomasina?” Reba asked.

An’gel nodded. “Dickce and I wanted to consult her about something. Oddly enough, though, since we talked to her, she seems to have disappeared.” She checked for reactions to that statement, and though she once again felt tension, she couldn’t identify the source.

“Disappeared?” Barbie frowned. “What do you mean, disappeared? Did she run off with some man?”

An’gel shrugged. “All I know is that the police wanted to talk to her about the remains found here, and when they went to her house, she was gone. Nobody seems to know where she is.”

Reba frowned. “She has no family to speak of since her sister died. There’s a nephew, but he’s most likely in prison still. Or again.” Her lips contorted in a grimace. “He’s a terrible man. I don’t think Thomasina had anything to do with him, though.”

“You must know her pretty well, to know all that,” Lottie said.

“Her mother worked for us when I was growing up. Thomasina was younger than I, but I saw her frequently over the years until her mother passed away. And of course when she came here to work for Mrs. Partridge.”

“Who are you all talking about?” Hadley asked from the doorway. He pushed a serving cart in front of him. Barbie hopped up to help him, and he rewarded her with a brief smile.

“Mrs. Turnipseed,” An’gel said.

Hadley frowned. “Why on earth are you talking about her? Dreadful woman. Hamish gave her a lot of Mother’s furniture for some reason, and I’m not happy about that.” He poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Reba. “He could have given her plenty of other things to thank her for all her years of service here. Mother wasn’t that fond of Mrs. Turnipseed, even though she was an exemplary housekeeper.”

“That’s terrible.” Barbie passed coffee to Lottie. “Why would he do such a thing?”

“Because he knew it would make me angry, I expect.” Hadley shrugged. “I was Mother’s favorite, he was our father’s.” He brought An’gel her coffee. For Martin he had a chilled can of soda.

Hadley picked up his own cup and sat on the sofa next to Barbie, who scooted over toward Lottie to make room for him. Lottie frowned.

An’gel had her own ideas about why Mrs. Turnipseed had ended up with the late Mrs. Partridge’s furniture, but she wasn’t about to share them with the group. Especially when she figured one of them was a murderer.